A blog by Oleg Shilovitsky
Information & Comments about Engineering and Manufacturing Software

Open Cloud, PLM Backbone and Vendor Lock-In

Open Cloud, PLM Backbone and Vendor Lock-In
Oleg
Oleg
30 November, 2010 | 2 min for reading

Vendor Lock-In is painful. I think, customers in the space of CAD/PLM even more sensitive to this issue. Proprietary CAD formats used by vendors many years, which allowed them to charge premium fees. Recently, we learned that Data Backbone lock-in can be even more dangerous. Customers are spending millions in their data management infrastructures and proprietary platforms. It helps them later to navigate customers like Daimler to right decisions.

I just learned about IBM VISION Cloud initiative. More about IBM VISION Cloud in IBM press release. Navigate your browser to the following link and read the interview from Dr, Yaron Wolfsthal, IBM’s senior manager responsible for VISION Cloud.

The EU-funded VISION Cloud initiative, led by IBM, has been launched and is focused on creating a metadata format that will enable users’ data to be interoperable among Cloud service providers. This is potentially a huge development for all business, but especially small businesses, which run the risk of vendor lock-in and general unhappiness when they find that it’s not cost-effective to switch Cloud vendors should they encounter problems.

As far as I understand, IBM is investigating how to develop a cloud storage that can be used for future internet data services. Here is a very interesting quote from Dr. Wolfsthal interview:

In principle we are targeting an open specification, open APIs etc. The participation of the SNIA.Europe (this is the European chapter of the Storage Networking Industry Association) will help us promote the open Specifications and standards developed/extended by the project beyond the boundaries of the project.

In 10 days, I will be attending first COFES-Israel forum. COFES is a unique event where Engineering, Manufacturing and Construction Software industry executives can share their view and discuss innovative ideas. Part of the extended forum agenda is visiting Israeli companies and local branches and development offices of international companies located in Israel. We will be visiting IBM Haifa Lab and I hope to learn more.

Open Cloud
We need to come to the idea of Open Cloud. Focus on open standards that can facilitate data exchange and data openness can be an important factor in customer’s decision to move to cloud solutions. The potential winners will be companies investing in open platforms and not lock-in their customers in proprietary PLM backbones. Will PLM on the cloud initiative is the next mouse-trap for customers similar to what CAD format was last 20 years? Time will show.

What is my conclusion? In my view, the question of openness on the cloud is an unread chapter. Cloud lock-in can be even more dangerous than file format or data backbone lock-in. Important.

Best, Oleg

Recent Posts

Also on BeyondPLM

4 6
8 December, 2019

It has been more than a month since PTC acquired Onshape. Such a big event triggered many conversations about the...

16 December, 2016

One size doesn’t fit all. It is hard to standardize enterprise software. Engineers are always in a disagreement how to...

22 March, 2012

I wanted to start by quote one of my blogs earlier this month – PLM is a fun place to...

16 May, 2019

Financial information is not a typical topic in my articles. However, in a spirit of diversity in the thinking process,...

11 June, 2022

The last three years were one of the most turbulent in the history of PLM. COVID, supply chain challenges and...

10 September, 2015

We don’t have to share the same room to work together these days. Business are discovering globalization option following customers...

14 January, 2017

Product Innovation Platform is an interesting concept emerged for the last few years. It addresses few very important aspects of...

7 January, 2024

The complexity is on the rise in the modern manufacturing industry and industrial companies. There are multiple dimensions of the...

18 August, 2020

Cloud and SaaS are changing PLM software. The new technology makes SaaS PLM easily accessible and available instantly to customers....

Blogroll

To the top